


Sins of the Father

by OhSoSheWrites



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24781276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhSoSheWrites/pseuds/OhSoSheWrites
Summary: After saving the merchants from the bandits with Raphael and Ignatz, Lorenz and Byleth have tea.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Sins of the Father

**Author's Note:**

> This just popped into my head. It is a little missing scene because I am annoyed we never really get any reaction from Lorenz about the revelation about his father’s role in Raphael’s parents death.

Byleth hesitates before sending the invitation for tea. It is not her place to interfere with her student’s families, or anything outside the school, but she has had several questions weighing on her since the last mission.

The merchant had been so convinced that Count Gloucester was behind these attacks and the bandit had mentioned the count. Lorenz hadn’t been present for the first, but he had heard the latter, though he hadn’t reacted except for a quick shadow.

Family relationships were complicated, Byleth knows that. Her own father has numerous secrets and demons (like a fondness for drink that is never talked about). So perhaps she is not one to judge or interfere and yet... She feels the need to ask, to open that dialogue. 

_Yes, curious how invested you are in things that do not concern you,_ Sothis pipes up, _or perhaps everything that affects them affects you as well? Curious, is it not?_

Byleth ignores her and finishes setting the table for tea. Caring for her students was not something she had expected when she took the job, but it is true, she _does_ care. She cares about their hurts, their joys, and all the things in between. And she worries that yesterday’s encounter, the revelation concerning her students parents, will cause pain, but also tear at the bonds she sees forming and she wants to prevent that. 

“Sorry I am late, Professor,” Lorenz tells her smoothly, interrupting her thoughts. He pulls out a chair, “after you.”

Byleth nods, taking the seat.

“You have excellent taste in tea,” Lorenz compliments as she pours them both a cup. 

Byleth simply smiles and takes a sip, trying to find the right words.

“I was surprised you invited me today,” Lorenz says after a moment, “I thought perhaps you would take your tea with Raphael or Ignatz today, after the mission yesterday.” It is the opening Byleth needs and she takes it. 

“That is actually why I wanted to talk to you,” she tells him, “what the bandit said...”

Lorenz freeze and then he forces a smile, one that doesn’t meet his eyes. It is a sight that Byleth is used to seeing from Claude, not Lorenz. The Gloucester heir is usually much more obvious about his feelings than the von Riegan one. “Ah yes, a misunderstanding I am sure. Or posturing, dropping a name so that we might spare him.”

It is a weak excuse and they both know it.

“There is more,” Byleth says gently, “after, the merchant mentioned the death of Duke Riegan’s heir.” She pauses, these kind of conversations do not come easy to her, “and Raphael’s parents.”

Lorenz pales and his hands fumble with his cup, tea sloshing over the sides, something that never happens with Lorenz. 

“I...” he begins and then trails off, uncharacteristically lost for words. “My father... He and Duke Riegan, both Dukes actually, have had a difference of opinion for many years, but he would not...” the words freeze in his throat, as if he is unable to utter a denial that even he does not believe. 

Byleth feels a deep pain of sympathy for him. Lorenz can be pretentious and overly conferred with nobility but she has come to admire how deeply his sense of duty goes and the way he cares for his classmates, even if he doesn’t always know how to share it and she knows the idea that his father arranged the deaths of the parents of one classmate and the uncle of another would be a deep blow.

Because while Count Gloucester does not sound like a good man at all and Byleth half suspects she will find herself at odds with him some day (especially since Claude has her unwavering loyalty), but his son is a different manner. The son is not the father and does not deserve to be held accountable for whatever actions his father did. He needs to be aware of them, yes, to push him in a direction where he will one day make decisions on his own, not for his father, but he does not have to destroy himself over them.

And with that thought in mind, she chooses to offer him some relief. “Raphael did not want to discuss it,” she says with a gentleness she once would have considered foreign, “he says that it has nothing to do with the two of you... he is a good man.”

Lorenz is quiet and Byleth wonders if he is considering all the times he lamented Raphael’s lack of manners. “Yes,” he says finally, “Professor—“

“That was all I wanted to say,” Byleth tells him, cutting him off, “I just thought you should be... aware.”

“Yes,” Lorenz says with a nod, “thank you.” He picks up his cup again, “this blend of tea really is excellent, where did you find it?”

Byleth lets him change the subject, talking first about tea and then about upcoming assignments, the conversation never coming back to his father even though Byleth is sure that the subject is on both their minds. Perhaps one day they will discuss him further, but for now, she has done what she can.

  * End 




End file.
